We remember the beautiful line from Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Many of us can remember the substance if not the very words of the rest of that section of Scripture. And we all know it is all just as “the Preacher” says it is. But knowing this does not keep us from asking “What’s next.”

As this fractious election season draws to a close it may be a good thing to think about the ideas that were the foundation of this country. We know that the convention in Philadelphia voted for independence on July 2, 1776. John Adams always thought that should be “Independence Day.” But the Second Continental Congress took action on that July 4th in what they called “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.” That document was crafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson with help from Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and others.

Everybody is busy these days. That may seem like an overstatement but I don’t know many people who do not have their days filled to the overflowing with things that have to be done, or at least, things we are convinced have to be done.

There are a number of conflicts described in the Book of Judges one of which was between Gilead and Ephraim. Gilead was in the portion of Manasseh on the east side of the Jordan River north of Jerusalem. The leader of Gilead was Jephthah who was a “mighty man of valor” though he was the son of a harlot. He had been expelled from his home by his half brothers because they did not want to share their inheritance with him (Judges 11:1-3).

Moses explained the purpose for law to his people in Deuteronomy 10:12-13: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” Simply put, the Law of Moses was for Israel’s own good.

I haven’t lived everywhere but in the places I have lived I have noticed little catch phrases unique to that location. We had not been here long (though this was a long time ago!) when I noticed that when leaving a store the clerk would generally say, “Have a good one!” Of course we know that this is just an abbreviation of “Have good day!” with a North Alabama twist. It’s one of those good things about living around here, like the presence of Diet Sundrop.

Life is composed of a series of ebbs and flows. It is one change after another. The force and influence of evil is also cyclical. Things get worse and, thankfully, they get better. We are always praying for things to get better. The blessing of being in Christ is that through all the changes of life we can enjoy spiritual stability.

Brother Al Behel will be with us this Sunday to begin our Fall Gospel Meeting. Though it is still pretty warm, Fall does begin on the 22nd! Brother Behel has been with us before and he always does a fine job preaching the Word of God. Many of our members know Al Behel from visiting with the Greater Smokey Mountain congregation in Pigeon Forge. Al Behel is well qualified: He has preached for many years and is a successful professional counselor.

I made a quick run down to Birmingham Tuesday. The weather was good and the traffic was a mixture of light and reasonable. Interstate 65 makes a trip like that something that can be just a portion of the day’s activities. As many of you know, it has not always been that way. It wasn’t so terribly far back that to contemplate going from Athens to Birmingham and back in one day would make a person shake his head!

“Are you ready?” Isn’t this what we ask each other when we have some place to go and a particular time to get there? I really don’t want to get into the “husband versus wife” discussion on this subject but I feel safe in saying that one of those two is generally ready before the other one.